Recording apparatus, control method, and storage medium

ABSTRACT

A recording apparatus includes a recording unit, first and second sheet discharge portions to which recorded products each recorded with an image are discharged, an acquisition unit, a determination unit, and a reception unit. The recording unit records the image by imparting recording materials. The acquisition unit acquires a recording job instructing recording of the image. The determination unit determines, in a case where sheet discharge destination information included in the recording job indicates the first sheet discharge portion, whether a recorded product of an n-th page is dischargeable to the first sheet discharge portion, wherein n is greater than or equal to one. The reception unit receives, in a case where a result of the determination by the determination unit is that recorded product is not dischargeable to the first sheet discharge portion, an instruction about recording of the n-th page from a user.

BACKGROUND Field

The present disclosure relates to a recording apparatus that records animage on a recording medium, a method for controlling the recordingapparatus, and a storage medium.

Description of the Related Art

A recording apparatus that includes a plurality of sheet dischargeportions as sheet discharge destinations to which sheets each recordedwith an image are discharged has been known. In some of recordingapparatuses, a sheet size, a sheet type, etc. dischargeable to each ofthe sheet discharge portions are determined based on a mechanism and afunction of each of the sheet discharge portions.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-89026 discusses atechnique in which it is determined whether a sheet can be discharged toa designated sheet discharge destination based on recording settingbefore the sheet is conveyed to the sheet discharge destination, and ina case where the sheet cannot be discharged, other sheet dischargedestinations are searched in a predetermined order in a similar manner,to determine a sheet discharge destination to which the sheet can bedischarged.

SUMMARY

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a recording apparatusincludes a recording unit configured to record an image by impartingrecording materials, a first sheet discharge portion and a second sheetdischarge portion to which recorded products each recorded with theimage are discharged, an acquisition unit configured to acquire arecording job instructing recording of the image, a determination unitconfigured to determine, in a case where sheet discharge destinationinformation included in the recording job indicates the first sheetdischarge portion, whether a recorded product of an n-th page isdischargeable to the first sheet discharge portion, wherein n is greaterthan or equal to one, and a reception unit configured to receive, in acase where a result of the determination by the determination unit isthat recorded product is not dischargeable to the first sheet dischargeportion, an instruction about recording of the n-th page from a user.

Further features of the present disclosure will become apparent from thefollowing description of exemplary embodiments with reference to theattached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a recording apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the recordingapparatus.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the recording apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating processing according to a firstexemplary embodiment.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a selection screen according to thefirst exemplary embodiment.

FIG. 6 illustrates an example of recording setting in which top-surfacesheet discharge is unavailable, according to the first exemplaryembodiment.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating processing according to a secondexemplary embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating processing according to a thirdexemplary embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating processing according to a fourthexemplary embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Some exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are described belowwith reference to drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a recording apparatus 100 according to afirst exemplary embodiment. The recording apparatus 100 according to thepresent exemplary embodiment is an inkjet recording apparatus that usesink as recording materials, and forms dots on a recording medium (sheet)by ejecting ink droplets to record an image. The recording apparatus 100according to the present exemplary embodiment uses a roll sheet wound ina roll shape. When the roll sheet is supplied to a roll sheet supplyingapparatus 200, the sheet is fed to a recording position by a sheetfeeding unit (not illustrated). At the recording position, an image isrecorded by repeating conveyance of the roll sheet and scanning withejection of ink droplets from an inkjet head 151 filled with the ink.The roll sheet recorded with the image is discharged to a front-surfacesheet discharge portion (basket, not illustrated) disposed below therecording position, through a front-surface sheet discharge port 1.

The recording apparatus 100 according to the present exemplaryembodiment can discharge a recorded product recorded with the image, toa top-surface sheet discharge portion (stacker, not illustrated)disposed above the recording position, through a top-surface sheetdischarge port 2. In the following description, discharge of a sheetfrom the front-surface sheet discharge port 1 is referred to as“front-surface sheet discharge” or “to discharge sheet to frontsurface”, and discharging of a sheet from the top-surface sheetdischarge port 2 is referred to as “top-surface sheet discharge” or “todischarge sheet to top surface”.

In FIG. 1 , the recording apparatus 100 only having a recording functionis illustrated; however, the recording apparatus 100 is not limitedthereto. The recording apparatus 100 may function as a copying machineby further including a reading apparatus reading an image of a document,or may be a multifunctional peripheral including the other functions.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a control configuration of therecording apparatus 100. The recording apparatus 100 includes a printercontroller 120, a printer engine 150, a hard disk drive (HDD) 165, andan input/output device 166, and is connectable to a host computer 190through a network 191. The printer controller 120 includes an HDDinterface (I/F) 121, an input/output device I/F 122, a read only memory(ROM) I/F 125, and a memory controller 126. The printer controller 120further includes a host I/F 127, a central processing unit (CPU) 128, animage processing unit 129, and a controller engine I/F 130. These unitsare connected to one another via a printer controller system bus 132.The printer controller 120 further includes a flash ROM 123 and a randomaccess memory (RAM) 124. The flash ROM 123 and the RAM 124 are connectedto the printer controller system bus 132 respectively through the ROMI/F 125 and the memory controller 126.

The CPU 128 is a central processing unit in a form of a microprocessor(microcomputer), and controls operation of the entire recordingapparatus 100 through execution of programs and activation of hardware.The flash ROM 123 stores programs to be executed by the CPU 128 andfixed data necessary for various kinds of operation of the recordingapparatus 100. The RAM 124 is used as a work area of the CPU 128 or as atemporary storage area of various received data. Further, the RAM 124can store various kinds of setting data.

The image processing unit 129 performs various kinds of imageprocessing. Examples of the various kinds of image processing includeprocessing to develop recording data handled by the recording apparatus100 to image data, and processing to convert data described by a pagedescription language into bitmap image data. The image processing unit129 converts a color space (e.g., YCbCr color space) of image dataincluded in input recording data into a standard RGB color space (e.g.,sRGB color space). Further, various image processing such as resolutionconversion to the number of pixels recordable by the recording apparatus100, image analysis, and image correction is performed on the image dataas necessary. The image data obtained by the image processing is storedin the RAM 124 or the HDD 165.

The printer engine 150 includes the inkjet head 151, a cutter unit 152,and an interface 153 for the printer controller 120. The printer engine150 further includes a conveyance roller 154, a sheet discharge switcher155, a U-turn nip 156, a U-turn cover 157, a U-turn conveyance roller158, a tray cover 159, a main body cover 160, and a loading sensor 161.These units are connected to one another through a printer engine systembus 162.

The inkjet head 151 records an image by imparting the ink to a sheetbased on image data. The inkjet head 151 according to the presentexemplary embodiment holds four recording heads corresponding to fourcolors of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. The inkjet head 151 recordsthe image on the sheet by causing the recording heads of the respectivecolors to eject ink droplets in synchronization with conveyance of thesheet.

The cutter unit 152 is a mechanism for cutting the sheet, and cuts thesheet having an image recorded thereon into a predetermined length. Theconveyance roller 154 is a roller conveying the sheet and is controlledby the CPU 128. The sheet discharge switcher 155 is a mechanism thatforms a sheet discharge path when the sheet is discharged to thefront-surface sheet discharge portion or the top-surface sheet dischargeportion of the recording apparatus 100, and is controlled by the CPU128.

The U-turn nip 156 is a mechanism for pressing the sheet when the sheetis discharged to the top-surface sheet discharge portion, and iscontrolled by the CPU 128. The U-turn cover 157 is a mechanism thatforms a sheet conveyance path when the sheet is discharged to thetop-surface sheet discharge portion, and is controlled by the CPU 128.The U-turn conveyance roller 158 is a roller conveying the sheet whenthe sheet is discharged to the top-surface sheet discharge portion, andis controlled by the CPU 128. The main body cover 160 is a mechanism onwhich the sheet is loaded when the sheet is discharged to thetop-surface sheet discharge portion. The tray cover 159 is a mechanismfor pressing the sheet from above.

The loading sensor 161 is an optical sensor, and detects whether a sheethas been loaded on the top-surface sheet discharge portion of the mainbody cover 160, from change of a light shielding state or a transmissionstate of the sensor. The HDD 165 can store or read out programs to beexecuted by the CPU 128, recording data, setting information necessaryfor various kinds of operation of the recording apparatus 100 in/from abuilt-in hard disk. Another large-capacity storage device may be used inplace of the HDD 165.

The input/output device 166 includes hardware keys and a touch panel toreceive an instruction from a user, and a display unit to present(notify) various information to the user. When presenting information tothe user, the input/output device 166 can present the information byoutput of sounds (buzzer, voice, etc.) from a sound generator based onsound information.

In the present exemplary embodiment, the recording apparatus 100includes the input/output device 166, however, the configuration is notlimited thereto, and the input/output device 166 may be provided outsidethe recording apparatus 100. In this case, the input/output device 166is connected by wireless communication, etc. Further, the host computer190 may also function as the input/output device 166. In addition to theinput/output device 166, other input/output devices may be furtherconnectable to the recording apparatus 100 through a network, etc.

The host computer 190 is, for example, an external apparatus that servesas a recording data supply source. In place of the host computer 190,other recording data supply sources such as an image reader, a digitalcamera, and a smartphone may be connected to the recording apparatus100.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the recording apparatus 100. When aroll sheet 164 is set in the roll sheet supplying apparatus 200 and theroll sheet is supplied, a leading edge of the roll sheet 164 is conveyedto a position facing the inkjet head 151 by the conveyance roller 154.When the leading edge of the roll sheet 164 is conveyed to the recordingposition where the inkjet head 151 can impart the ink, the ink dropletsare ejected from the inkjet head 151, and an image is recorded on theroll sheet 164. As described above, the recording apparatus 100according to the present exemplary embodiment is a serial recordinginkjet recording apparatus. Accordingly, the ink ejection operation bythe inkjet head 151 and the conveyance operation by the conveyanceroller 154 are repeated until a tail end of the image.

The sheet discharge switcher 155 is a component that forms a conveyancepath to discharge the roll sheet 164 from the top-surface sheetdischarge port 2 or the front-surface sheet discharge port 1 of therecording apparatus 100. In a case where the roll sheet 164 isdischarged from the front-surface sheet discharge port 1, the sheetdischarge switcher 155 is driven to a position E2 before the inkejection operation starts. As a result, the conveyance path to the topsurface of the recording apparatus 100 is blocked, and the leading edgeof the roll sheet 164 is conveyed to the front surface of the recordingapparatus 100. In a case where the roll sheet 164 is discharged from thetop-surface sheet discharge port 2, the sheet discharge switcher 155 isdriven to a position E1 before the ink ejection operation starts. As aresult, the leading edge of the roll sheet 164 is conveyed to the topsurface along the sheet discharge switcher 155.

When the recording is completed up to the tail end of the image and cutmode setting in the recording setting is set so as to cut the sheet, thecutter unit 152 cuts the sheet at the tail end of the image. A recordedproduct after the sheet is cut at the tail end of the image is nipped bythe U-turn conveyance roller 158 and the U-turn nip 156, is conveyedinside the U-turn cover 157, and is discharged to a space between thetray cover 159 and the main body cover 160. After the recorded productis discharged to the stacker which is the top-surface sheet dischargeportion of the recording apparatus 100, the loading sensor 161 detectsthat the recorded product is loaded on the stacker.

Here, setting in which the top-surface sheet discharge is available andsetting in which the front-surface sheet discharge is available aredescribed. In a case of the top-surface sheet discharge, the sheetdischarge switcher 155 is set to the position E1, and the sheet isconveyed inside the U-turn cover 157 and is discharged to the topsurface of the recording apparatus 100. A sheet having high rigidity,such as a thick paper, is difficult to be conveyed inside the U-turncover 157. Accordingly, in a case where such a sheet type is set in therecording setting, it is determined that the top-surface sheet dischargeis unavailable. In contrast, in the case of the front-surface sheetdischarge, the sheet discharge switcher 155 is set to the position E2,and difficulties of the conveyance path, etc. do not arise. Therefore,in the recording apparatus 100 according to the present exemplaryembodiment, the front-surface sheet discharge is available irrespectiveof the sheet type.

In a case where the cut mode setting is set such that the cutter unit152 does not cut the sheet after the image recording, if the sheet isdischarged to the top surface without being cut, the sheet is difficultto be handled thereafter, which increases a burden of the user.Therefore, in the present exemplary embodiment, it is determined thatthe top-surface sheet discharge is available in a case where the cutmode setting is set so as to cut the roll sheet. In contrast, in therecording apparatus 100 according to the present exemplary embodiment,the front-surface sheet discharge is available in both the case wherethe cut mode setting is set so as to cut the roll sheet and the casewhere the cut mode setting is set so as not to cut the roll sheet.

As described above, in the recording apparatus 100 according to thepresent exemplary embodiment, the sheet discharge destination can be setfrom the plurality of candidates including the top surface and the frontsurface. Even in the case where the top surface is set as the sheetdischarge destination, the top-surface sheet discharge is unavailabledepending on the other settings. In contrast, in the case where thefront surface is set as the sheet discharge destination, thefront-surface sheet discharge is available irrespective of the othersettings.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating image recording processing. Programsof the flowchart are held in the flash ROM 123 and are controlled by theCPU 128. In the present exemplary embodiment, the programs arepreviously held in the flash ROM 123, however, programs similar to theprograms of the flowchart may be installed in the RAM 124 and controlledby the CPU 128.

In the processing, the recording setting is determined for recording ofeach page. In a case where the top surface is set as the sheet dischargedestination in the recording setting but where it is determined that thetop-surface sheet discharge is unavailable, options are presented to theuser. Note that a recording command issued to the recording apparatus100 by the user is referred to as a “recording job”, and a section aftercutting determination until next cutting determination based on the cutmode setting is referred to as a “page”. The recording job includes arecording start command, image data, recording setting, and a recordingend command. In the processing, a processing target page is an n-th(n≥1, n is natural number) page, and the recording job includes imagedata for m (m>n, m is natural number and is greater than n) pages.

In step S0400, when the user operates the input/output device 166 toinstruct start of recording, a recording job is acquired and therecording processing is started. First, in step S0401, it is determinedwhether the sheet discharge destination of the n-th (n≥1) page includedin the recording job from the user is set to the front surface. In acase where the sheet discharge destination is set to the front surface(YES in step S0401), the sheet can be discharged irrespective of therecording setting. Therefore, an image of the n-th page is recorded instep S0402. In a case where the sheet discharge destination is set tothe top surface (NO in step S0401), the sheet cannot be dischargeddepending on a condition included in the recording setting. Thus, instep S0403, it is determined whether the top-surface sheet discharge isavailable based on the recording setting. In a case where it isdetermined that the top-surface sheet discharge is available based onthe recording setting (YES in step S0403), the image of the page isrecorded in step S0402. In a case where the recording setting includes acondition in which the top-surface sheet discharge is unavailable, it isdetermined in step S0403 that the top-surface sheet discharge isunavailable (NO in step S0403). In step S0404, options are presented tothe user. FIG. 5 illustrates an example of a selection screen presentedto the user, and FIG. 6 illustrates an example of the recording settingin which the top-surface sheet discharge is unavailable.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the selection screenpresented to the user. The screen is displayed on the input/outputdevice 166. In the present exemplary embodiment, determination ofwhether the sheet can be discharged to the sheet discharge destinationdesignated by the sheet discharge destination setting is performed foreach page. In addition, before the image of the determined page isrecorded, the selection screen illustrated in FIG. 5 is presented to theuser, to seek direction. In the present exemplary embodiment, in a casewhere the top surface is designated as the sheet discharge destinationbut the recording setting includes the condition in which thetop-surface sheet discharge is unavailable, it is determined that thetop-surface sheet discharge is unavailable, and the selection screenillustrated in FIG. 5 is displayed. In this case, a message 500indicating that the sheet cannot be discharged to the top surface, amessage 501 indicating an option to “perform recording by changing sheetdischarge destination to front surface”, and a message 502 indicating anoption to “cancel recording job” are displayed. In a case where the userselects the message 501 through the input/output device 166, the sheetdischarge destination of the page is changed to the front surface, andthe image of the page is recorded. In a case where the user selects themessage 502, the subsequent recording job including the page iscanceled. In other words, images from the n-th page to the m-th page arenot recorded.

The reason why the option to cancel the recording job itself is providedis because, in most of the recording jobs, the recording settingimparted to each of the pages is the same among all of the pages. In acase where the recording setting is the same among all of the pages,even when the recording of the page is canceled and the processingproceeds to recording of a next page, it is determined in determinationof the sheet discharge destination of the next page that the top-surfacesheet discharge is unavailable in a manner similar to the previous page,and the options are again presented to the user. Therefore, providingthe option to cancel the recording job itself eliminates necessity toinput an instruction to the options presented by each page, which makesit possible to reduce a load on the user.

FIG. 6 is a table illustrating an example of the recording setting inwhich the top-surface sheet discharge is unavailable, and it isdetermined whether the top-surface sheet discharge is available, basedon information in the table. In the present exemplary embodiment, therecording job includes the plurality of types of recording setting, anda setting value at which it is determined that the top-surface sheetdischarge is unavailable is present in the sheet type setting and thecut mode setting. For example, in the sheet type setting, informationindicating that a “regular paper” can be discharged to the top surfacebut a “thick paper” and a “glossy paper” cannot be discharged to the topsurface, is held. This is because, in a case of a sheet having apredetermined thickness or more, conveyance failure may occur in theconveyance path to the top-surface sheet discharge port 2 as describedabove. Likewise, in the cut mode setting, information indicating thatthe top-surface sheet discharge is available in the case of the settingto cut the roll sheet but the top-surface sheet discharge is unavailablein the case of the setting not to cut the roll sheet, is held.

In a case where the setting in which the top-surface sheet discharge isunavailable is included in at least one of the conditions staticallyheld, it is determined that the sheet of the page cannot be dischargedto the top surface. Note that the recording setting in which thetop-surface sheet discharge is unavailable may be previously staticallyheld in the recording apparatus 100 as described above, or may be addedor deleted from the input/output device 166 or an external apparatussuch as the host computer 190.

Referring back to FIG. 4 , in a case where the user selects the optionto “perform recording by changing sheet discharge destination to frontsurface” in step S0405 (YES in step S0405), the sheet dischargedestination of the page (n-th page) is changed to the front surface, andthe image is recorded in step S0406. In a case where the user selectsthe option to “cancel recording job” in step S0407 (YES in step S0407),the recording job for all of the n-th and succeeding pages is canceledin step S0407. In step S0409, the recording processing ends. After theimage of the n-th page is recorded in step S0402 or S0406, it isdetermined in step S0408 whether the recording job includes aninstruction to record a next page (n+1-th page). In a case where therecording job includes the instruction to record the n+1-th page (YES instep S0408), the processing returns to step S0401. In step S0401, therecording setting of the n+1-th page is determined again, and theprocessing continues. In a case where the recording job does not includethe instruction to record the n+1-th page (NO in step S0408), theprocessing proceeds to step S0409. In step S0409, the recordingprocessing ends.

As the display of the options to the user and the selection instructionfrom the user described with reference to FIG. 5 , an option to cancelonly the corresponding page can be presented, or both the option tocancel only the corresponding page and the option to cancel thecorresponding page and subsequent pages may be presented. Further, asthe setting of the recording apparatus 100, an option to be selected maybe previously determined. In this case, when it is determined that thetop-surface sheet discharge is unavailable, the previously determinedoption is adopted in place of presenting the options to the user everytime. The form in which the selection instruction from the user isobtained through the input/output device 166 has been described,however, the selection instruction from the user may be obtained fromthe external apparatus such as the host computer 190. For example, thehost computer 190 may present options similar to the options in FIG. 5 ,and an option selected by the user may be transmitted to the recordingapparatus 100 via the host I/F 127.

As described above, in the present exemplary embodiment, when the jobinstructing recording is received, it is determined whether thetop-surface sheet discharge is available based on the recording settingfor each page. Further, in a case where a result of the determination isnegative, namely, in the case where it is determined that thetop-surface sheet discharge is unavailable based on the recordingsetting, the user instruction about the recording of the page isreceived. Such a configuration makes it possible to receive the userinstruction about the sheet discharge destination of the recordedproduct, and to appropriately record the image.

A second exemplary embodiment will be described. In the presentexemplary embodiment, holding information to change the sheet dischargedestination received from the user makes it possible to switch the sheetdischarge destination thereafter without receiving the user instruction,and an instruction input load on the user is reduced. In the following,descriptions of the processing same as the processing in theabove-described exemplary embodiment will be omitted.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating processing according to the presentexemplary embodiment. In step S0700, when the user operates theinput/output device 166 to instruct start of recording, a recording jobis acquired and the recording processing is started. First, in stepS0701, sheet discharge destination switching information is initialized.The sheet discharge destination switching information is temporaryinformation held in the RAM 124 during execution of the recording job.When the sheet discharge destination switching information isinitialized, a state where sheet discharge destination informationindicating the top surface or the front surface is not held as the sheetdischarge destination switching information is established. Next, instep S0702, it is determined whether the sheet discharge destination ofthe n-th (n is natural number of 1 or more) page included in therecording job from the user is set to the front surface. In a case wherethe sheet discharge destination is set to the front surface (YES in stepS0702), the sheet can be discharged irrespective of the condition.Accordingly, an image of the page is recorded in step S0703. In a casewhere the sheet discharge destination is set to the top surface (NO instep S0702), the sheet cannot be discharged depending on a conditionincluded in the recording setting. Therefore, in step S0704, it isdetermined whether the top-surface sheet discharge is available based onthe recording setting. In a case where it is determined that thetop-surface sheet discharge is available based on the recording setting(YES in step S0704), the image of the page is recorded in step S0703. Ina case where the recording setting includes a condition in which thetop-surface sheet discharge is unavailable (NO in step S0704), it isdetermined in step S0705 whether the sheet discharge destinationswitching information is set to the front-surface sheet discharge. In acase where the sheet discharge destination switching information is setto the front-surface sheet discharge (YES in step S0705), the sheetdischarge destination of the page is changed to the front surface, andthe image of the page is recorded in step S0706. In a case where thesheet discharge destination switching information is not set to thefront-surface sheet discharge and still has the initial value (NO instep S0705), options are presented to the user in step S0707. In a casewhere the user selects the front-surface sheet discharge in step S0708(YES in step S0708), the sheet discharge destination switchinginformation is set to the front-surface sheet discharge in step S0709.Thereafter, in step S0706, the sheet discharge destination of the pageis changed to the front surface, and the image of the page is recorded.In a case where the user selects cancel of the recording job in stepS0708 (NO in step S0708), the subsequent recording job is canceled instep S0710, and the recording processing ends in step S0712. After theimage of the n-th page is recorded in step S0703 or S0706, it isdetermined in step S0711 whether the recording job includes aninstruction to record a next page (n+1-th page). In a case where therecording job includes the instruction to record the n+1-th page (YES instep S0711), the processing returns to step S0702, and the recordingprocessing of the n+1-th page continues. In a case where the recordingjob does not include the instruction to record the n+1-th page (NO instep S0711), the processing proceeds to step S0712. In step S0712, therecording processing ends.

In the above-described first exemplary embodiment, the user instructionis received at a timing when it is determined that the top-surface sheetdischarge is unavailable based on the recording setting for the firsttime after start of the job; however, the timing is not limited thereto.In a case where all of pages included in the job can be analyzed beforerecording of a first page, it may be determined whether a page of therecording setting including the condition in which the top-surface sheetdischarge is unavailable is present. In a case where the page ispresent, the user instruction may be received before recording of thefirst page. In this case, the user instruction is received not duringthe recording processing of the job, namely, between page recording andpage recording, but before recording of the first page immediately afterstart of the job. Therefore, convenience for the user is high.

As described above, in the present exemplary embodiment, the instructionreceived from the user is held as the sheet discharge destinationswitching information. This makes it possible to reduce a burden on theuser in relation to selection by the user as compared with a case wherethe user instruction about the sheet discharge destination of therecorded product is received for each page.

A third exemplary embodiment will be described. In the present exemplaryembodiment, after the instruction to switch the sheet dischargedestination is received from the user, all of the recorded products ofthe succeeding pages are discharged to the same sheet dischargedestination. Such a configuration makes it possible to suppressdeterioration of handleability caused by change in the sheet dischargedestination by each page. In the following, descriptions of theprocessing same as the processing in the above-described exemplaryembodiments are omitted.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating processing according to the presentexemplary embodiment. In step S0800, when the user operates theinput/output device 166 to instruct start of recording, a recording jobis acquired and recording is started. First, in step S0801, the sheetdischarge destination switching information is initialized. Next, instep S0802, it is determined whether the sheet discharge destinationswitching information on the n-th (n is natural number of 1 or more)page is set to the front-surface sheet discharge. In a case where thesheet discharge destination switching information is set to thefront-surface sheet discharge (YES in step S0802), the sheet dischargedestination of the page (n-th page) is changed to the front surface, andthe image is recorded in step S0803. In a case where the sheet dischargedestination switching information is not set to the front surface sheetdischarge and still has an initial value (NO in step S0802), it isdetermined in step S0804 whether the sheet discharge destinationincluded in the recording job from the user is set to the front surface.In a case where the sheet discharge destination is set to the frontsurface (YES in step S0804), the image of the page is recorded in stepS0805 because the sheet can be discharged irrespective of the condition.In a case where the sheet discharge destination is set to the topsurface (NO in step S0804), it is determined in step S0806 whether thetop-surface sheet discharge is available based on the recording setting,because the sheet cannot be discharged depending on the conditionincluded in the recording setting. In a case where it is determined thatthe top-surface sheet discharge is available based on the recordingsetting (YES in step S0806), the image of the page is recorded in stepS0805. In a case where the recording setting includes a condition inwhich the top-surface sheet discharge is unavailable (NO in step S0806),options are presented to the user in step S0807. In a case where theuser selects the front-surface sheet discharge in step S0808 (YES instep S0808), the sheet discharge destination switching information isset to the front-surface sheet discharge in step S0809. Thereafter, instep S0803, the sheet discharge destination of the recording page ischanged to the front surface, and the image of the page is recorded. Ina case where the user selects cancel of the recording job in step S0808(NO in step S0808), the subsequent recording job is canceled in stepS0810. In step S0812, the recording processing ends. After the image ofthe n-th page is recorded in step S0803 or S0805, it is determined instep S0811 whether an instruction to record a next page (n+1-th page) ispresent. In a case where the instruction to record the n+1-th page ispresent (YES in step S0811), the processing returns to step S0802, andthe recording processing of the n+1-th page continues. In a case wherethe instruction to record the n+1-th page is not present (NO in stepS0811), the processing proceeds to step S0812. In step S0812, therecording processing ends.

As described above, in the present exemplary embodiment, after the userselects the sheet discharge destination of the recorded product recordedwith the image, all of the recorded products of the succeeding pages aredischarged to the same sheet discharge destination. In other words, inplace of switching the sheet discharge destination of only the page forwhich the top-surface sheet discharge is unavailable, all of therecorded products of the succeeding pages are discharged to the samesheet discharge destination after the user selects the sheet dischargedestination. This makes it possible to improve handleability whilereducing a burden on the user in relation to selection made by the useras compared with a case where the user instruction is received for eachpage.

A fourth exemplary embodiment will be described. In the presentexemplary embodiment, a case where the same recording setting is set toall of the pages in the job and a case where the same sheet dischargedestination is designated for all of the pages in the recording settingfor the job are described. In these cases, it is possible to apply aresult of determination of switching necessity of the sheet dischargedestination and the user instruction to all of the pages by performingthe determination of switching necessity of the sheet dischargedestination and receiving the user instruction only once beforerecording of the first page instead of performing the determination ofswitching necessity of the sheet discharge destination and receiving theuser instruction for each page. In the following, descriptions of theprocessing same as the processing of the above-described exemplaryembodiments are omitted.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating processing according to the presentexemplary embodiment. In step S0900, when the user operates theinput/output device 166 to instruct start of recording, a recording jobis acquired and recording is started. First, in step S0901, the sheetdischarge destination switching information is initialized. Next, instep S0902, it is determined whether the same recording setting is setto all of the pages in the job. This can be implemented by, for example,a method of sequentially determining the recording setting of each ofthe pages, or a method of preferentially adopting the recording settingfor the job over the recording setting for each of the pages. In a casewhere it is determined in step S0902 that the same recording setting isnot set to all of the pages in the recording job (NO in step S0902), thecontrol by each page described in the first exemplary embodiment isperformed in step S0903. Thus, description of the subsequent processingis omitted. In a case where it is determined in step S0902 that the samerecording setting is set to all of the pages in the job (YES in stepS0902), it is determined in step S0904 whether the sheet dischargedestination set by the user is the front surface. In a case where thesheet discharge destination is set to the front surface (YES in stepS0904), the sheet discharge destination switching information is set tothe front-surface sheet discharge in step S0905. In a case where thesheet discharge destination is set to the top surface (NO in stepS0904), it is determined in step S0906 whether it is determined whetherthe top-surface sheet discharge is available based on the recordingsetting because the sheet cannot be discharged depending on a conditionincluded in the recording setting. In a case where the top-surface sheetdischarge is available based on the recording setting (YES in stepS0906), the sheet discharge destination switching information is set tothe top-surface sheet discharge in step S0907. In a case where thetop-surface sheet discharge is unavailable based on the recordingsetting (NO in step S0906), options are presented to the user in stepS0908. In a case where the user selects the front-surface sheetdischarge in step S0909 (YES in step S0909), the sheet dischargedestination switching information is set to the front-surface sheetdischarge in step S0910. In a case where the user selects cancel of therecording job in step S0909 (NO in step S0909), the recording job iscanceled in step S0911, and the recording processing ends in step S0914.In a case where the sheet discharge destination switching information isset in step S0905, S0907, or S0910, the image of the n-th page isrecorded in step S0912. At this time, the sheet discharge destination isset by using not the sheet discharge destination setting in therecording setting of the n-th page but the sheet discharge destinationsetting of the sheet discharge destination switching information. Afterthe image of the n-th page is recorded, it is determined in step S0913whether a next page (n+1-th page) is present. In a case where the n+1-thpage is present (YES in step S0913), the processing returns to stepS0912, and recording of the image of the n+1-th page continues. In acase where the n+1-th page is not present (NO in step S0913), theprocessing proceeds to step S0914. In step S0914, the recordingprocessing ends.

As described above, in the present exemplary embodiment, in the casewhere the same recording setting is set to all of the pages in the jobor in the case where the same sheet discharge destination is designatedfor all of the pages in the recording setting for the job, thedetermination of switching necessity of the sheet discharge destinationis performed and the user instruction is received only once beforerecording of the first page. Further, the result of the determinationand the user instruction are retained and are applied to all of thepages. Such a configuration makes it possible to improve handleabilitywhile reducing a burden on the user in relation to selection made by theuser as compared with the case where the user instruction about thesheet discharge destination of the recorded product recorded with theimage is received for each page.

In the above-described exemplary embodiments, a serial recordingapparatus that records an image by alternately performing scanning withthe inkjet head in the X direction and sheet conveyance in the Ydirection has been described. Alternatively, a full multiple recordingapparatus in which the recording position of the inkjet head is fixedand an image is recorded on a conveyed sheet may be used.

Further, the example of the inkjet recording apparatus that records animage by using the inkjet head has been described; however, therecording apparatus is not limited thereto. For example, the exemplaryembodiments of the present disclosure are applicable to, for example, anelectrophotographic recording apparatus that records an image by usingtoner.

Embodiment(s) of the present disclosure can also be realized by acomputer of a system or apparatus that reads out and executes computerexecutable instructions (e.g., one or more programs) recorded on astorage medium (which may also be referred to more fully as a‘non-transitory computer-readable storage medium’) to perform thefunctions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s) and/orthat includes one or more circuits (e.g., application specificintegrated circuit (ASIC)) for performing the functions of one or moreof the above-described embodiment(s), and by a method performed by thecomputer of the system or apparatus by, for example, reading out andexecuting the computer executable instructions from the storage mediumto perform the functions of one or more of the above-describedembodiment(s) and/or controlling the one or more circuits to perform thefunctions of one or more of the above-described embodiment(s). Thecomputer may comprise one or more processors (e.g., central processingunit (CPU), micro processing unit (MPU)) and may include a network ofseparate computers or separate processors to read out and execute thecomputer executable instructions. The computer executable instructionsmay be provided to the computer, for example, from a network or thestorage medium. The storage medium may include, for example, one or moreof a hard disk, a random-access memory (RAM), a read only memory (ROM),a storage of distributed computing systems, an optical disk (such as acompact disc (CD), digital versatile disc (DVD), or Blu-ray Disc (BD)™),a flash memory device, a memory card, and the like.

While the present disclosure has been described with reference toexemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the disclosure is notlimited to the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The scope of thefollowing claims is to be accorded the broadest interpretation so as toencompass all such modifications and equivalent structures andfunctions.

This application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No.2020-179124, filed Oct. 26, 2020, which is hereby incorporated byreference herein in its entirety.

What is claimed is:
 1. A recording apparatus comprising: a recorderconfigured to record an image on recording materials; a first sheetdischarge port and a second sheet discharge port configured to receivedischarge of recorded products recorded with the image; a processor anda memory configured to be in communication with each other and toperform operations including: acquiring a recording job instructingrecording of the image, determining a determination, and receiving aninstruction, wherein, in a case where sheet discharge destinationinformation included in the recording job indicates the first sheetdischarge port as a discharge destination, determining includesdetermining, before recording the image on an n-th page and based on arecorded product of the n-th page to be output from the recording job,whether the recorded product of the n-th page is dischargeable to thefirst sheet discharge port, where n is greater than or equal to one, andwherein, in a case where it is determined that the recorded product isnot dischargeable to the first sheet discharge port, receiving includesreceiving an instruction about recording of the n-th page from a user.2. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein receivingincludes receiving an instruction to discharge the recorded product ofthe n-th page to the second sheet discharge port or an instruction notto record an image of the n-th page.
 3. The recording apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein, in a case where the acquired recordingjob includes m pages, where m is greater than n, receiving includesreceiving an instruction not to record images from the n-th page to them-th page.
 4. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, ina case where the acquired recording job includes m pages, where m isgreater than n, receiving includes receiving an instruction to dischargerecorded products of the n-th page to the m-th page to the second sheetdischarge port.
 5. The recording apparatus according to claim 4, whereinthe operations further include holding received information where thereceived information indicates that the recorded products from the n-thpage to the m-th page are to be discharged to the second sheet dischargeport.
 6. The recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, amongrecorded products from the n-th page to the m-th page and in a casewhere the acquired recording job includes m pages, where m is greaterthan n, receiving includes receiving an instruction to discharge, to thefirst sheet discharge port, recorded products of pages determined to bedischargeable to the first sheet discharge port, and to discharge, tothe second sheet discharge port, recorded products of pages determinedto be undischargeable to the first sheet discharge port.
 7. Therecording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, before recording ofeach of pages of the acquired recording job, determining includesdetermining whether the recorded product of the n-th page isdischargeable to the first sheet discharge port.
 8. The recordingapparatus according to claim 1, wherein receiving includes presentingoptions to the user and receives an instruction about at least one ofthe presented options.
 9. The recording apparatus according to claim 1,wherein determining includes determining whether the recorded product isdischargeable to the first sheet discharge port, based on at least oneof: a sheet type or information included in the recording job andindicating whether to cut a sheet.
 10. The recording apparatus accordingto claim 1, wherein the first sheet discharge port is a top-surfacesheet discharge portion disposed on a top surface of the recordingapparatus above a recording position of the recorder.
 11. The recordingapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second sheet discharge portis a front-surface sheet discharge portion disposed at a front surfaceof the recording apparatus below a recording position of the recorder.12. A recording apparatus comprising: a recorder configured to record animage on recording materials; a top-surface sheet discharge portion towhich a recorded product recorded with an image is discharged anddisposed at a top surface of the recording apparatus above a recordingposition where the image is recorded by the recording unit; afront-surface sheet discharge portion to which a recorded productrecorded with an image is discharged and disposed at a front surface ofthe recording apparatus below the recording position where the image isrecorded by the recording unit; a processor and a memory configured tobe in communication with each other and to perform operations including:acquiring a recording job instructing recording of the image,determining a determination, and receiving an instruction, wherein, in acase where sheet discharge destination information included in therecording job indicates the top-surface sheet discharge port as adischarge destination, determining includes determining, beforerecording the image on an n-th page and based on a recorded product ofthe n-th page to be output from the recording job, whether a recordedproduct of the n-th page is dischargeable to the top-surface sheetdischarge port, where n is greater than or equal to one, wherein, in acase where it is determined that the recorded product is notdischargeable to the top-surface sheet discharge port, receivingincludes receiving an instruction about recording of the n-th page froma user, and wherein receiving includes receiving a user instructionselected from a plurality of options including an instruction todischarge the recorded product of the n-th page to the front-surfacesheet discharge portion and an instruction to cancel recording of then-th page and pages following the n-th page.
 13. A method for arecording apparatus having a recorder configured to record an image onrecording materials, and a first sheet discharge port and a second sheetdischarge port configured to receive discharge of recorded productsrecorded with the image, the method comprising: acquiring a recordingjob instructing recording of the image; determining a determination; andreceiving an instruction, wherein, in a case where sheet dischargedestination information included in the recording job indicates thefirst sheet discharge port as a discharge destination, determiningincludes determining, before recording the image on an n-th page andbased on a recorded product of the n-th page to be output from therecording job, whether a recorded product of the n-th page isdischargeable to the first sheet discharge port, where n is greater thanor equal to one, and wherein, in a case where it is determined that therecorded product is not dischargeable to the first sheet discharge port,receiving includes receiving an instruction about recording of the n-thpage from a user.
 14. A non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumstoring a program to cause a computer to perform a method for arecording apparatus having a recorder configured to record an image onrecording materials, and a first sheet discharge port and a second sheetdischarge port configured to receive discharge of recorded productsrecorded with the image, the method comprising: acquiring a recordingjob instructing recording of the image; determining a determination; andreceiving an instruction, wherein, in a case where sheet dischargedestination information included in the recording job indicates thefirst sheet discharge port as a discharge destination, determiningincludes determining, before recording the image on an n-th page andbased on a recorded product of the n-th page to be output from therecording job, whether a recorded product of the n-th page isdischargeable to the first sheet discharge port, where n is greater thanor equal to one, and wherein, in a case where it is determined that therecorded product is not dischargeable to the first sheet discharge port,receiving includes receiving an instruction about recording of the n-thpage from a user.
 15. The recording apparatus according to claim 1,further comprising a conveyance path configured to convey the recordedproduct, wherein, in a case where the sheet discharge destinationinformation included in the recording job indicates the first sheetdischarge port as the discharge destination and a rigidity of therecorded product exceeds a predetermined amount relative to a shape ofthe conveyance path, determining includes determining that the recordedproduct of the n-th page is not dischargeable to the first sheetdischarge port and the recorded product of the n-th page is dischargedto the second sheet discharge port.
 16. The recording apparatusaccording to claim 1, further comprising a cutter configured to cut asection from the recording materials to make a page, wherein, in a casewhere the sheet discharge destination information included in therecording job indicates the first sheet discharge port as the dischargedestination and a cut mode setting included in the recording job is setsuch that the recording materials is not cut by the cutter after theimage is recording on the recording materials, determining includesdetermining that the recorded product of the n-th page is notdischargeable to the first sheet discharge port and the recorded productof the n-th page is discharged to the second sheet discharge port. 17.The recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising adatabase associating recording setting values with availability of thefirst sheet discharge port to receive the discharge of the recordedproducts recorded with the image, wherein the recording setting valuesare based only on a state of a recorded product and determining whetherthe recorded product of the n-th page is dischargeable to the firstsheet discharge port is based on the information included in theacquired recording job and the recording setting values included in thedatabase.
 18. The recording apparatus according to claim 17, wherein thedatabase is previously statically held in the recording apparatus. 19.The recording apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a rollsheet supplying apparatus, wherein the recording materials is a rollsheet wound in a roll shape in the roll sheet supplying apparatus; and acutter configured to cut a section from the roll sheet to make a page,wherein, in a case where the sheet discharge destination of the n-thpage is set to the first sheet discharge port, sheet dischargedestination switching information is not set to the second sheetdischarge port, and the instruction about the recording of the n-th pagefrom the user indicates that the user selects the second sheet dischargeport, the sheet discharge destination switching information is setautomatically to the second sheet discharge port for the acquiredrecording job without further input from the user, the dischargedestination for the n-th page is changed to the second sheet dischargeport, the image of the n-th page is recorded on the roll sheet, and asection from the recording materials by the cutter to make a page thatis discharged to the second sheet discharge port.